From Rock Bottom to Revival

From 72 days in rehab to six-figure business owner. From a woman who couldn't look anyone in the eye to someone who now speaks on stages across the country. Meghan’s story is about the miracle of complete transformation – proof that no matter how dark your valley, resurrection is possible.

When people compliment Meghan today, they see a stunning, confident woman with a radiant smile. What they don't see is the woman from six years ago whose hair was falling out in clumps – a physical manifestation of the spiritual and emotional breakdown she was experiencing.

"To other people it might have seemed like I had some hair, but to me, I had no hair," Meghan recalls. "I remember talking to the woman who's done my hair ever since eighth grade, asking her to help me find a wig. That's where I was at."

The Michigan native's journey into darkness began with a marriage that, while entered into with hope, slowly became a cage for her spirit. She lived a life where it looked like she had it all on the outside—money, cars, vacations, security, and even the white picket fence. But she never felt more alone and unfulfilled. It was everything she ever dreamed of, but it was the loneliest she had ever felt in her whole life. 

To conform to assumed expectations within her marriage, Meghan systematically abandoned her personal aspirations – dropping out of graduate school, withdrawing from the Miss Michigan pageant, and shutting down the business she had built before getting married. Her once vibrant self faded as she blended into the background of her own life.

As her spirit diminished, alcohol became her escape. What started as social drinking evolved into something far more insidious–a dangerous coping mechanism for drowning the pain of her unfulfilled existence. Though she made excuses that it was just social drinking, the reality was much darker.

"I was drowning in myself," she admits.

She realized her foundation was built on what the world told her was “successful, wealthy, and happy. But those words mean nothing if your foundation isn't built on the very essence of you and your gift, so I chose to start over.”

The marriage quickly ended, leading to divorce. But Meghan's challenges were only beginning.

Shortly after the divorce, she became pregnant. The father-to-be wasn’t her ex-husband but her best friend since fifth grade, which presented a closeness that felt safe at the time. 

At 30 years old and newly pregnant, Meghan faced intense pressure from people around her to "really think about the options available." Despite the pressure, something deep inside told her this child was meant to be born.

Making the decision to fully embrace becoming a mother, while right for her soul, set the stage for what would become the most challenging period of her life. Just three weeks after giving birth to her son Keegan, Meghan would step into a world of courtrooms, custody hearings, and a journey that literally broke her spirit.

"It was really traumatic and it imprinted on me in a way that I didn’t believe was possible.," Meghan recalls, her voice still carrying traces of that pain. "I'm shaking, I'm throwing up for a week. I'm also three weeks postpartum."

Though the custody situation was eventually resolved, the trauma of potentially losing her child triggered a complete collapse. Terrified that asking for help would mark her as an "unfit mom," Meghan suffered in silence as her mental health deteriorated.

"I was already having that going on," she explains. "I really struggled in silence."

By the time Keegan was two-and-a-half, Meghan had reached rock bottom. Her drinking had progressed to something she couldn’t live without. It became a way to completely escape and a way to numb the effects of trauma. Her body felt like it was breaking down.

"It happens so fast," she emphasizes. "And if you're in a place where you've already almost had your kid taken away from you, you don't want to tell anyone that you're struggling. I felt like I had no choices. I'm damned if I do, I'm damned if I don't."

In her darkest moment, when death seemed like the only escape from her pain, Meghan heard what she describes as God's voice: "You can't die. You can't die. This isn't your time." She remembers hearing it "so vividly," like "the angels of the Lord" were speaking to her: "It's going to be hard, but you're going to be okay."

The turning point came during a conversation with a rehabilitation center director. Looking at her desperation, he asked a question that would change everything: "Meghan, if you had leukemia and I told you that I had a life-saving service for you and it would take 90 days, what would you say?"

"I'd say yeah, I'd do it," she replied.

"Then why aren't you saying yes right now?" he challenged.

Something shifted in Meghan at that moment. "Why wouldn't I do that?" she realized. "I mean, I have a whole entire life. What's three months?"

Thinking of her son provided the final push she needed. "I remember wanting to be the best mom to my kid. That was the whole reason why I went," she explains. "Who cares about me? I just wanted to be such a great mom for Keegan. I wanted him to see a mom who didn't drink, a mom who was healed, a mom who was happy, a mom who was a fricking warrior."

The alternative was unthinkable: "Where I was going, I was either going to die or I was going to lose him forever."

For 72 days, Meghan immersed herself in healing and rehabilitation alongside people from all walks of life – "literally prostitutes, drug addicts, a pastor and others from every walk of life.” This environment gave her the perspective she desperately needed.

"I honestly felt like I was meant to see it," she reflects. "I needed to be grounded in real life."

The journey back to wholeness began with the hardest step: forgiveness – not just of others, but of herself. Meghan had to confront the deep self-hatred that had been driving her destructive behaviors.

"I hated myself for so many reasons," she acknowledges. "But once you come to this really high perspective of letting God in and realizing this is God’s plan to turn these things into good, everything changes. This isn't my plan; it’s His."

This awakening allowed Meghan to rebuild her life from the ground up. With newfound clarity and purpose, she returned to graduate school, earned her Master's degree in social work, and became a therapist working in various settings from nonprofit organizations to inpatient and outpatient care.

"What I gained was life experience," she explains. "There's nothing that I feel like I haven't been through or seen, but it makes me such an incredible provider and somebody that people confide in because I've actually experienced it so much for myself."

Today, Meghan runs her own business combining mind, heart, body, and spirit in the healing journey – a holistic approach born from her own experience since traditional psychotherapy often addresses the mind but misses the soul.

"My soul was crushed," she says of her lowest point. "Normal therapy wasn't touching this."

Her approach now marries the spiritual with the psychological, helping clients achieve healing on all levels. 

"What I really do is heart work," she explains. "We're breaking down the walls of your heart. We're connecting to God on a deeper level. We're releasing the chains around your voice because that's how I felt for so long."

For Meghan, sharing her story has been a crucial part of her healing journey, releasing the shame that once held her captive. "Beginning to speak and share my story released so much shame," she reflects. "Because people are like, 'Wow, because you shared that now I feel like I can share that I went through the same thing.'"

She works with clients one-on-one, leads group programs and retreats, and speaks at corporate trainings and conferences. Her son, now eight years old and finishing second grade, has never seen her drink, and they share an incredibly close bond – "he's the love of my life."

"If you would have told me seven years ago that I'd be sitting here talking to you, I wouldn't have believed it," Meghan says. "I used to walk with my head down, not making eye contact with anybody. And now I'm asked to speak on stages. Like, who am I? What is happening?"

Meghan’s transformation extends beyond career success – it has healed relationships with family members, particularly her mother, by releasing deep-seated resentment she hadn't even recognized was there.

Meghan's personal mantra encapsulates her journey perfectly: "From 72 days in rehab to six-figure brand." She built her business "from zero," but more important than the financial success is the spiritual wealth she's gained and now shares with others.

"This has nothing to do with me," she insists. "This is God moving through me... If I can do it, you can do it. I came back from literally the dead. You can do anything too."

Her mission now is helping others turn their pain into purpose, just as she has done. "It's not even about me at all," she says of her work. "It's about inspiring and activating somebody else to be in their gift and release their shame and speak their story. And then they do the same for somebody else. It compounds and ripples out"

Looking back on her journey, Meghan sees her experiences as preparation for her purpose. "I am living testimony," she says with conviction. "What you went through and what I went through is testament to the glory of God."

Today, Meghan no longer sees herself as a victim of circumstances but as a vessel for transformation – both her own and others'. "I truly feel like I'm living in an answered prayer," she says. "Every day of my life is a miracle."

Her journey serves as powerful testimony that true transformation is possible – even from the darkest places – when you embrace your authentic self and allow your struggles to become stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks.

You can connect with Meghan on Instagram at @Iammkstim
https://linktr.ee/meghankristine
mkstimmel@gmail.com